By: Blonde Two
Did you know that the UK consumes 1.1 million tonnes of clothing a year?
Now I don’t think that this means we eat all of that lycra, cotton, denim and in my case merino, but we do wear it. In fact, on average we spend 5% of our household budgets on things to wear. This may not sound too bad to you until you consider the fact that most of us leave 70% of our clothes sad and alone in the wardrobe and when we do decide to have a clear out each of us produces 70 kg of textile waste each year.
I know, I can hear you. You’re all saying things like, ‘Well I don’t spend that much on clothes,’ or ‘Not me I never throw anything away.’ Well that is what averages are all about and I have long had my suspicions that the Two Blonde’s readership is anything but average.
I have been doing some darning recently and I can thoroughly recommend it. Not only will you have happy toes and elbows but there is something ultimately satisfying about the task of drawing torn edges together and feeling your power over the hole as it dematerialises (or should that be rematerialises?) There is more skill to darning than you might imagine, you have to strengthen any fragile edges and make sure that you over-darn to protect the surrounding area. Merino is my favourite candidate, I think because it is knitted and you can aim for each little hole (if you can see it). It is just as well I like darning merino so much because it can be a delicate fabric and prone to holes.
I once darned a tent. Actually I have done that more than once but the time I am thinking about was on the Isle of Man with B1 and a DofE Gold team. It was our ‘family’ tent, it was raining and very windy and the rest of the team were still putting the other end of the tent up while I was working. The darning kind of worked but I do remember dropping the needle, kneeling on the soggy ground and having a slightly hysterical moment when I realised that I actually was looking for a needle in a haystack.
I have an interesting challenge for you (and I have two people in my head whom I think might win). I would like you to tell me about your oldest piece of clothing but it has to be something that you still wear. Mine would be a blue fleece that has a hole burnt in it from my very first Scout campfire. This would have back when Not-At-All-Blonde was 9, she is 23 now.
Duct Tape!
Duct tape is useful, I have some in a bright shade of pink!
Excuse the repetition but I have just copied my old hat story from my comment on your recent Captain Claire post, and I’m pretty sure you two have heard this story several times before, but other readers may not have.
“There has been a bit about The Hat here – the one I have worn for years when backpacking. That hat replaced its predecessor on a sailing holiday off the Brittany coast with my two brothers. The original chapeau went overboard. Brother Nick, the rich one with the yacht, went into full “man overboard mode”. I was within a whisker of hooking the old hat with the boathook when an errant motor boat disobeyed your above mentioned rule of the sea and did not give way, so Nick had to go about very smartly. The hat then disappeared in a sort of zig-zag fashion into the depths. Later we went into La Rochelle, and that is where I bought The Hat. I think that was in 2006. The Hat has now nearly fallen to bits and I have reluctantly bought a replacement which will be featuring shortly in further exploits I hope.”
So at 2006 that is not so long ago; I’m sure others will have longer surviving items.
My oldest is just a few months older than you, Blonde 2! It is a brown Aran knitted cardigan that i bought in Ireland on holiday with my parents. i was expecting you at the time! Next time you visit I’ll show it to you. Love, B2’s GM
Blimey ancient then! I wonder if Starfire can beat you!
An Icelandic jumper i bought in 1982. Still wear it as the attached link shows.
Better than a fleece although heavier. Great for base camps.
https://alsphots.smugmug.com/Scotland-2015/i-6447h75/A
AlanR – your link took me on the whole fabulous slideshow tour of Scotland. Was that all on one visit, or a conglomeration of several?
One visit Conrad in 2015. The link should have only been one image. I will look into it.
That’s a great jumper I didn’t buy one when I visited Iceland but I have always regretted not doing so. Old, but not our oldest item!
For some reason i cannot change the link. So my apologies for that. The image of the jumper was added to my 2015 Scotland file as a single image just for your information on this post. The picture was taken in 2004 in Harris.
I think the oldest item I still have is my Guide Campfire Blanket; but that probably doesn’t count as it isn’t I thing I actually wear very often now. I still have – and don’t wear – my Sea Ranger hat. Last used by a 12 year old, in a school play. However – let’s get to the real nitty gritty – I date in at 52 years old, one deer-stalker hat which on rare occasions when I feel like a giggle, I will still wear to walk the dog. I have several WRNS-having-fun piccies of it taken in a photo booth (you could get 3 Wrens side-by-side in a photo booth) in Plymouth in 1967; but it was bought in Birmingham in 1965, with one of my first pay packets.
I can confirm that you do occasionally wear the deerstalker hat because I can remember it from childhood. At 1952 it beats the Arran cardigan, the Dachstein mittens and the Icelandic jumper so I declare you the winner of the competition. (Which was my prediction although I did wonder if Conrad would trump you!) Well done, excellent clothes work!
Aafraid I have to concede defeat to Conrad’s Dachstein mitts, hee. 1965 was my hat’s debut – 52 years ago, but Conrad’s date is 1960, which – maths never my strong point – I think takes the mitts to 57 years old!
Obviously all the maths genes went elsewhere in the family! You are quite right but both entries are impressive!
Just remembered, I have a pair of Dachstein mits bought to go to Norway in 1960. They are still used in winter.